Key stats: Kings are shooting 38.2% from deep, second in the league. The Sixers are holding opponents to 34.4%, seventh in the league. This is what it’s like when world’s collide!

First Quarter:

First play of the game is a Simmons dunk. Not good for Jerry’s keys.

Fox rocking the ninja headband. Beautiful fast break where he throws a bounce pass to Buddy for a dunk. Video

Jerry compares Ben Simmons to Magic Johnson. Both in size and lack of outside shooting. Thinks BS can develop a shot in the future. Simmons and Embiid both seem like unfair physical specimens.

With the score tied 15-15, Kings go on a 10-0 run punctuated by a killer Fox full-court play. Video

Sixers press the Kings second unit. Bogi brings the ball up and is the only person to touch the ball before bricking a stepback mid-range. Is this foreshadowing problems with the Kings bench unit tonight?

First quarter ends with the Kings up 32-26. Buddy has 15 on 6/9 shooting, including three from deep.

Second Quarter:

Yogi starts the second quarter off strong by picking Embiid off with his back to the basket and hitting a nice mid-range jumper off the screen.

Kings lead slips away as Butler abuses Justin Jackson with an array of post moves and drives.

Grant and Jerry suggest Buddy Hield is an All-Star, but I’m not buying it. Nothing against Buddy, but I think him and Fox are equally responsible for this season’s success, but neither has fully solidified themselves as All-Stars. I do believe they will both be there next year or the year after.

So in Friday’s edition of the Bee, WCS talked about guarding Embiid:

“He’s got some moves and his footwork is really great,” Kings center Willie Cauley-Stein said. “He plays with a lot of power up top and his base is so strong, you can’t let him get to his spot. If you let him get to his spot, it’s over.”

…

“When I play against dudes like that, it’s a load,” Cauley-Stein said. “I feel like dudes who play that aggressive, they’re waiting for you to fall. They’re waiting for you to just give in and let him do whatever. I just try to give him different looks and keep on coming. He’s going to score. He’s going to get rebounds. That’s what he does and he’s really good at it. It’s just how many times can you stop him from doing that?”

I listen to a lot of 1140 and trading WCS is a big topic of discussion. (I’ll probably post about that later.) But WCS deserves some credit for understanding his role and how to guard Embiid. He’s making Embiid work all game. The stats won’t do it justice. Embiid is going to get his no matter what. But WCS is fighting for position, using his hands to combat Embiid outside, and genuinely giving him a tough matchup. It’s easy to think Embiid–all 7 foot 280 lbs of muscle–would just overpower the lean WCS, but it didn’t go down like that. Here’s a video where the Sixers wanted to get the ball to Embiid in the post and WCS just didn’t let it happen. Pushed him out to the perimeter, used his hands to tip the drive, and forced Embiid to do a mid-range, turnaround, fadeaway that resulted in a 24 second violation. Video (sorry for the crap video–Wave broadband said they upgraded me to Highest Speed internet but obviously not true)

Kings go into the half up 62-52. You can feel the momentum. Kings came out to play. This isn’t a case of the Sixers being flat, either. The Kings are just taking it to Philly.

Gametime drink:

It’s Saturday night so I got crunk. Had this Ketel One Botanical. Peach and Orange Blossom infused with some San Pellegrino. For the classy drunk.

Up 8, the Kings are holding their own without Fox. Buddy misses a shot, WCS gets the board, kicks to Shump, who misses a three, and WCS grabs the rebound again, who gives it to Buddy, who converts the three. 11 point lead, third time’s a charm! Video

Shamet misses 2/3 free throws, so the fans will get a free burger from Jack in the Box. My favorite burger from Jack? The tacos, which are just Mexican burgers.

Kings up 86-79 going into the fourth.

Fourth Quarter:

Before the start of the quarter, Kayte talks about how the coaching staff considers this a prize fight between a heavyweight and a middleweight, and how the middleweight just needs to outpace.

Fox starts the 4th. How will this change up the rotation?

Struggling all night, Bogi hits an And-1 opportunity.

Butler converts a 4 point play on a terrible, terrible call. Remember this.

In a span of 80 seconds the Sixers go on an 8-0 run to tie the ball-game. You can feel the momentum dissipate from the arena. Wonder how this young team closes out?

At the 5 minute commercial break, my buddy Dan texts me with his concerns: “The team this year doesn’t have that guy who will get you 2 points. Fox and Hield just aren’t there yet.” Literally fifteen seconds later, Fox takes a screen from WCS and drills a mid-range jumper to put the Kings up 3.

Another 4 point play for Jimmy Butler. Philly up for the first time since 2-0.

Back and forth game the last four minutes, like a boxing match where guys are just absorbing and delivering blows.

With two minutes left, WCS plays killer help defense to force Butler to barf up a shot. Kings secure the board and Buddy delivers a dagger. The crowd is going wild. Video

WCS fouled with 48 seconds left, hits a FT, makes it a two possession game.

Buddy hits his free throws and puts the game out of reach.

Final score: Kings 115, Sixers 108

Post Game:

Jerry’s Keys revisted:

Simmons had 18 points in the paint. He got their whenever he wanted but seemed non-existent in the fourth.

Kings bench had 32 points, 14 of which came from Bagley. Bagley was the biggest bench contributor, although Yogi did his part. Bogi was a negative tonight.

Player of the Game:

Buddy had 34 and broke his single season record for 3’s made…with 30 games to go. Bagley looked poised in the clutch and came up with some big half-hooks and defense. Fox was steady handed.

But the real Player of the Game, imo, is WCS. I was never a believer in WCS, but I am wrong about the guy. He played a killer game against Embiid. Yes, big boy had 29/17, but he went 9-24 from the field. WCS made the potential MVP work and neutralized Embiid. Credit where it’s due.

The worst thing about New England is that despite how annoying the residents are, the region puts out a helluva product. The Red Sox just won their fourth World Series in the last 15 years, the Patriots are the preeminent football dynasty, the Celtics are classic, The Departed is the greatest movie ever made, and New England clam chowder is delicious.

Before I drank it I had to find out what the hell a New England IPA was. I live in Northern California and drink Sierra Nevada like it’s water. IPA’s, to me, are synonymous with the West Coast. Why is the Northeast appropriating our beer?

Turns out that a New England style IPA is just a pussy version of a REAL IPA. Not quite as hoppy. Not quite as bitter. A little more fruity.

Shipyard’s own website describes the Finder IPA as follows:

This mouthwatering New England Style IPA has a creamy mouthfeel. The Citra, Mosaic and El Dorado hops create a drinkable, juicy ale with flavors of grapefruit, orange peel and lemongrass. Finder finishes with a slight bitterness and notes of tropical sweetness.

I wouldn’t say it has a creamy mouthfeel, but it is definitely drinkable and juicy. You can taste a lot of the fruit, almost like a hybrid IPA. The site also describes the beer’s color as “Deep Gold” but that’s a generous characterization. It’s more appropriately describable as “Dust Bowl Orange”.

Because I hate New England’s fanbase, I so dearly wanted to write a scathing review of this beer. Alas, I believe beer are like dogs–there’s no such thing as a bad dog.

NBA Purgatory is a depressing state of existence where an NBA team and their fanbase have nothing to root for: the team is neither good enough for contendership, nor bad enough for the highly revered “youth movement” (re: The Process.)

Luckily for the Charlotte Hornets, they can fast forward through another dreaded 28-54 season of irrelevance and start the rebuild process immediately. Kemba Walker, the diminutive two time all-star who is Kirkland Signature Steph Curry, hits the free agent market this summer. (He will almost assuredly sign with the LA Clippers and lead them to 33 win seasons until Doc Rivers croaks.) Why not just trade him now and build around your real franchise player?

Sacramento is a city on the upswing. Money is pouring in to make California’s Capitol a big time player in politics, tech, art, education, etc. We are trying to become a destination rather than departing juncture. But in the midst of the expansion comes gentrification, and Sacramento’s homeless epidemic is a real hot-button issue in the area. From 2015 to 2017, the transient population in Sacramento rose 30%.

And after last night’s game against the Utah Jazz, the city has another bum to add to the list: Justin Jackson.

Here’s a screenshot that just begins to scratch the surface Jackson’s impact last night:

That is some ripe garbage! Jackson, who had one good year shooting on a stacked national title team, came into the league marketed as an NBA ready catch and shoot threat. But in his time with the Kings, he’s reverted back to a trash baby shooter who possesses none of the athleticism needed to be a complete wing. And despite shooting just 30% from deep last season, Jackson took four attempts from beyond the arc last night. He missed them all.

But the frustration with Jackson is more than just his poop offense and poop defense. It’s the fact that the Kings were actually in a position to beat Utah last night and, for some reason, kept riding the Jackson Junction. With five minutes left to go in the third, old Blue Balls checked into a 78-78 ballgame. Inexplicably, he played the remainder of the game, which ended 123-117 for the Jazz.

Here’s Jackson playing soft on the break:

And here’s Jackson screwing up an easy two points that led to a four point swing:

Love the sound clip from Grant Napear here:

“Jackson…JACKSON! OH MY GOODNESS! Almost a disaster!”

No Grant, it was a disaster. Justin Jackson is a disaster.

When asked for comment on why Justin Jackson played 17 straight minutes against the best defense in the league despite being a terrible player, Kings coach Dave Joerger offered this insight: